A Very Homestuck Sleepover
by PrinceOfChange
Summary: John, Dave, Rose, and Jade have a sleepover with the trolls. No pairings except RoseMary. Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare are played. AU, Humanstuck. Some 'pleasant' language. Basically a lot of pale-fluff and pillows.
1. Chapter 1

A young man stands alone in his bedroom, surveying the mess he would have to clean within the hour. His name is John Egbert and he is having a sleepover with all of his friends. Rose Lalonde, Jade Harley, and Dave Strider all live in his house, but their other friends, like Karkat Vantas and Feferi Peixes, live about two to three blocks away. They are coming over around six. By then, Rose will have made dinner, Dave will have the candy all sorted, and Jade will have picked out a few games to play. John, however, would have to clean the house. Top to bottom. All four bedrooms, Dave's studio, Rose's library/witchcraft area, Jade's lab, his own 'office', Casey's play area, all three of the bathrooms, the kitchen, and the living room. They had built this house to compensate for all their individual needs and interests, as well as Casey and Bec, although Casey often slept in John's room and Bec in Jade's. Sighing, John started picking things up from the floor and putting them back where they belonged. Two hours later, John was done with bedrooms. Rose's room had been the easiest; she'd picked up all of her knitting, so all John had to do was make her bed and dust. Jade's room was a little more difficult as she'd forgotten to pick up he dolls and squiddles. Dave's room, though, was the worst. he had empty apple juice bottles littering the floor, full ones left open, and stains on the carpet which may or may not have been piss. John lumped against the wall, weary from so much cleaning. He groaned as he realized he still had the next floor down to do, as well as the bottom floor. '_Time to get to work_,' he thiught. John picked up his mop and trudged down the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

John finished cleaning at the same time that Rose and Dave came back from their shopping. John charged to the top of the stairs and shouted, "Wipe your feet at the door, I just finished mopping!" Rose took her shoes off at the door, putting them in the shelf. Dave followed suit, both slipping on their 'comfort shoes'.

"John, is Jade back yet," Rose queried in her soft voice.

"Uhm, I don't think so."

"Good. I don't want Bec getting on the counters again." Rose headed for the kitchen while Dave sorted candy in the living room. John went back to his room for a nap. An hour later, John awoke with a start. A little yellow blob was was jumping on him.

"Casey! What's wrong?" Then John noticed the note that was tied around her neck with a pretty pink ribbon. John unravelled it. The scroll-note read;

'John

The others are coming soon. I'm too busy to tell myself and Dave is being stubborn. Casey Salamancer was rather willing, though. Please come downstairs to set the as soon as you've taken a shower.'

The light pink cursive told John that Rose was the sender. Sighing, he grabbed some clean-ish clothes and a towel and shuffled off to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, a knock at the bathroom door told John that Jade was waiting for her shower turn. As he rinsed himself and turned the water off, John laughed at how he and his friends had only been living together for a month, yet they already had their schedule and 'secret signals'. Dave would tap the beat to his latest song and Jade knocked twice. Rose didn't have a signal. She never showered when the others were in the house. She planned her showering around when everyone else was out with friends. That wouldn't be weird except she never actually _planned _anything. It seemed that Rose knew when the others would be out because her entrances and exits were so very timed. Another knock sounded on the door, wrenching John from his thoughts.

"John! Hurry up, I need to pee and take a shower!" John laughed.

"I hope you don't mean at the same time." He giggled as he could almost hear Jade's disgusted face.

"John, that is so gross!" John stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, wrapping the towel around his waist, He gathered his dirty clothes and opened the door. He leaned against the door frame, trying to be ridiculously provocative.

"Hey, Ja-," he started, when his feet slid out from under him, The floor was slippery under is wet feet. John landed on his back, his towel barely covering him. Jade giggled at him, moving the towel over John, then stepping into the bathroom.

"Heh. Smooth move, Egderp." John glanced up at Dave who was staring down at him through his douchebag shades.

"Shut up, Stridouche, you wouldn't have done any better."

"I beg to differ," he said, reaching a hand down to help John up.

LGet dressed, bro, Rose is getting prissy about her food." John groaned. He was always, _always,_ drafted into helping Rose with food.


	3. Chapter 3

Later, John was climbing into the giant pantry in the kitchen, per Rose's request.

"John, where is the sauce," she called.

"On the top shelf, like I told you!"

"Well, don't scuff up the fucking counters!" Rose was on edge, snarling and grumbling. She needed to calm down. John carefully climbed to the top shelf, grabbing the jar of sauce, and slowly lowering himself and the jar down. _Leave it to Rose to choose the most complex dish for our closest friends._

"Rose?"

"What," she snapped. Boy, was she stressed.

"Why didn't we just order pizza?"

"I-" She stopped, a look of increasingly conflicting emotions on her face. She slowly put the wooden spoon she was holding down in the pan. John hurried to calm her.

"Hey, Rose, I'll handle dinner. You just go upstairs and rest. You've been up forever." She nodded, eyes shut tight. She stalked out of the kitchen, walk jerky and unstable. John waited until he heard her footsteps receding to pick up the phone and dial the pizza place.

John had ordered seven pizzas, three pepperoni, two cheese, two hawaiian. He had just gotten started on dessert when the first guest arrived. Karkat Vantas, short, white-haired, angry, walked into the house without knocking.

"You god has arrived, you need not fear, puny shitheads! I come graciously and in peace. For now." John poked his head out from the kitchen, bowl of batter in hand.

"Oh, hi, Karkat!" The loudmouth deflated a little, immediately putting up a wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hello, most gracious and merciful father of our universe."

"You can kick the sarcasm, fuckwad." Karkat squinted at the bowl in John's hand. "What's with the fucking confectionaries all of a sudden? I thought you hated them?"

"I do. I'm not eating any of this. It's for you guys. Rose insisted." Almost as though on cue, a loud thump was heard from upstairs. John shoved the bowl at Karkat, charging upstairs.

"Rose? Was that you? Are you ok?" He reached her room and heard silence inside. That scared him more than noise. He slowly eased open the door so as to not scare Rose any more than she already was. He found her curled up tightly in a ball, arms locked around her knees. John knelt next to her, one hand paused near her.

"Karkat, get me my phone. It's in my room," he said in a soft voice. Karkat came scampering back, phone in hand.

"Call Kanaya. She's the only one who can deal with this. Just call her and say 'Grimdark'." So Karkat did. He heard the phone click as it hit the floor and Kanaya running around, looking for her keys.

"I'll be there in a minute." Kanaya sounded breathless and scared. Karkat doubted that Kanaya would ever drive faster than the speed limit, but she obviously did. It was only three minutes since Karkat called, but there Kanaya was, shoeless, hair still a mess, looking, for all the world to see, absolutely disheveled. She didn't seem to care at all, though. She walked straight to Rose, who'd taken to twitching and muttering.

"Rose. Rose, it's me. It's ok, you'll be alright. Calm down, my love. I'm right here. I'll always be here." Rose curled in to Kanaya, squeezing herself tighter. Kanaya continued murmuring in her ear, wrapping her elegant arms around the terrified young woman. John ushered Karkat out of the room and led him downstairs to explain.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, guys! My god, you have no clue how happy it made me when my email pinged and I saw y'all reviewing and following! My heart could burst! So here's another chapter! Hope y'all keep reading!**

**-Princess**

* * *

"Care to explain what the fuck just happened, John?" Karkat put his hands on his hips, glaring daggers at John. _He's trying to intimidate me,_ John thought. Normally, he'd chuckled, but he was subdued by the attack. He grabbed the bowl of batter to give his hands something to do.

"Sit down, Karkat." The little grump flopped down onto a chair.

"Rose has a panic disorder, one her doctors have never seen before. If any of her emotions go on a flare, she gets twitchy and starts imagining things that aren't there. Everything gets dark for her. The first time it happened, we ended up having to take her to the hospital. She'd imagined a little monster was trying to crawl into her and began stabbing herself in the arms and legs.

"Of course, we called Kanaya. At the time, they'd only been going out for about four months. We were all in the waiting room when the nurse rushed in to get the sedative. We followed her back to the room. Rose was thrashing around, ripping the drips out and fighting the doctors. The worst part was that she was conscious. She screamed and fought and snarled. It was terrifying." John took a deep breath, mixing the batter to get rid of the lumps.

"We, me and Jade and Dave, we were trying to hold her down so that the doctors could inject her, but she got superhuman strength or something. She screamed at us. The doctor finally got her strapped down, but she'd thrown the needle at the crowd. Kanaya had been standing around the edge, too terrified to do anything. When they strapped Rose down, they asked Kanaya if she wanted to see her properly. Of course, being Kanaya, she put her game face on and stepped forward. I was the only on that noticed at the time, but the second Rose spotted Kanaya, her eyes softened a little and she stopped straining for a second. Kanaya was really silent and calm in her movements. She put her hand on the side of Rose's face and Rose's pupils dilated. She seemed to not recognize us, but with Kanaya, she seemed to struggle between remembering, wanting to, and wanting not to."

"Why could her closest friends not calm her down, but her girlfriend four months could?"

"We don't know. Neither do the doctors. But it took Kanaya all day to calm Rose down sufficiently to stop fighting, agree to examination, and to recognize us. However long she freaks out, it takes that long to get her to remember. We found that out the fourth time. She's had these... attacks... for years, but never on this scale, and she'd never hurt herself before. Around the tenth time, about six months after the first, she learned that there were signs. She'd get really depressed and couldn't really... function. Her thoughts turned dark, no matter what. She also learned to calm herself down, and how. The reason she had to was because we were all out. Jade and Dave had left their phones at home because we were going to a movie."

"I remember that," said Karkat in a soft voice. "You ran out of the theatre in the middle of the movie." John nodded. They sat in silence for a while when a voice startled them, though it was soft and weak.

"It's not just a panic attack. I get scared. Horribly scared of everything. Loud noises, soft noises, the dark, the light... Everything. I don't remember John, or Jade, or Dave. I remember nothing but fear, pain, and Kanaya." Rose was coming down the stairs, closely followed by Kanaya.

"Rose! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, John."

"Should I call off the sleepover?"

"No. It's ok, John. You've been planning this forever. We can do this," she said, resting a hand on Kanaya's shoulder. Kanaya slipped an arm around Rose's waist, supporting her. John couldn't understand it at the moment, but that was the second that he thought _Rose and Kanaya are meant for each other. _He just stared for a second. Karkat snapped John out of his trance by poking him- repeatedly- in the face.

Karkat reached the door first. The second he touched the knob, the door burst open in a swirl of purple. Karkat flipped out.

"Gamzee! Calm the fuck down! Jegus- no!" Karkat started screaming as the juggalo picked him up and whirled him around. Gamzee set the screaming grump down and leaned down on his shoulder.  
"What's up, motherfucker? How's your shit been hangin'?"

"My 'shit' and my sanity have been hanging by a thread since the day I fucking met you, asshole!"

"Aw, come on, Karbro. Get your relax on. It's time for a motherfucking wicked sleepover." As he finished talking, ten people burst through the door, all at once. _Aw, shit. Let the fun begin, _John thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello my lovelies! Another chapter for you all! Sorry that it's so short, but this fanfiction is turning out much grander than I intended. Love ya!**

**\- Princess**

* * *

As everyone burst through the door, the scene play out as follows: Feferi Peixes and Eridan Ampora were the first through, closely followed by Sollux Captor, being pulled by Feferi. Right after Sollux, by the hand, was Aradia Megido, who was quickly followed by Equius Zahhak, who had a Nepeta Leijon hat. Being walked (yanked) by Vriska Serket was Tavros Nitram. After everyone had tumbled through and fallen on top of each other, in strolled Terezi Pyrope, stepping over everyone.

"Hehehe. Do I smell a shame pile? Because you are all EMBARASSING."

"Oh, shut up, Pyrope! Also, how the hell did the _blind girl _not trip over all the casualties?" John burst out laughing at all his friends. Everyone looked up at him, a mix of happiness to pissed faces ranged across the pile. John laughed for a solid minute. By the time he ran out of breath, Jade and Dave had come downstairs and some people had extracted themselves from the pile. Kanaya had walked Rose to the sofa. Feferi came bounding up to John, followed by a swaggering Vriska and a little cat girl.

"What are we doing tonight," they all chorused. John giggled again and went back to baking.

"Well, first I thought that we could watch some movies until the pizza gets here. Then, we could eat and play a few games, maybe have a drink. Dave bought beers for us and a bottle of red wine for the ladies." All three girls made faces at the mention of red wine.

"It's not for you three. It's for Rose and Jade and Kanaya." A chorus of oh's and off they went. Aradia came up, but before she could speak, John answered.

"Yes, we can watch Indiana Jones. Also, can you build us pillow forts?" Aradia smiled and went to tell Sollux. John sighed at his group of friends. It was much better than his old life; back then, he was friendless and barely had a reason to live. But then, he moved here and found his life had gotten infinitely better. _Why am I thinking of this now, anyway. Oh, well, no time to dwell on the past. I have to get this in the oven,_ he thought, looking at the colourful batter in his hands. After filling the tin and putting the batter in the oven, John went to see if his friends were having issues with the DVD player. He hadn't heard any movies starting, or any arguments over movie choice. He walked in and flicked the light on. Immediately, he was ambushed by fifteen people all shouting "Surprise". John was swallowed up by a cyclone of streamers, party favours, and people. After a few minutes of hugging, John extracted himself from the group.

"Guys! What's going on?"

"It's the anniversary, stupid," Jade said, giggling. John gave her a questioning look. She rolled her eyes at her step-brother.

"The anniversary of your finished therapy!" John smacked himself on the head, shocked. _That was a stressful three years. The end of my suicide therapy._ _How could I forget?_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So so so so sorry about not updating. I've been busy with everything. Also, I've been sick.**

John thought back to the time when he was less happy. Back in Washington, in middle school, he'd been considered an outcast because of his (slightly ridiculous) interest in horrible movies and science. He wouldn't have been so unhappy if he'd had friends, but he was shunned from even the other outcasts. He'd caught the tail-end of the "nerds are uncool" movement. Everyone in Washington had wanted to be cool, so even the other science nerds hid their true identities. John was lonely, but he made the best of it. He learned to draw pretty well and made little friends in his notebooks. The teachers always complimented him when he turned his notebooks in. The doodles were no substitute for real, true friends, but they helped. However, one day, after another science class where John had every answer, some of the older kids cornered him. John recognized them as the kids everyone whispered about. The Slackers, the ones held back. The terrified boy looked into the faces of all of them and saw malicious smiles and evil glints in their eyes. One of the older kids grabber him by the shoulder, squeezing enough to cause pain, but not enough to make John cry out. A few words from the bully made John turn from a bright but lonely child to a silent, friendless, mysterious student.

John kept quiet until the day that all the bullies were carted off to juvie for the vandalism to the school. Everyone noticed that John's aura of lonliness and sadness had lessened when the bullies left. However, John, while free from the opression from the Slackers, still had no friends to speak of. No one wanted to get to know him because he seemed incredibly dull. Not a single person in all of middle school wanted to even greet him in the morning, but John still went out of his way to be incredibly kind to everyone. In his freshman year, John's dad remarried, but his new wife left him. Her one daughter was John's age, cared for by her grandfather. Her name was Jade Harley. She lived on a little island in the Pacific, but when her grandfather died, she went to live with her mom. However, poor Jade was unused to her mother's strict ways. No guns allowed, no pets (Jade had a protective dog named Bec), no crazy midnight adventures. Jade was miserable.

John met his step-sister when they were both going into high school. At first, they were awkward; neither of them had had much human contact for a really really long time. However, after realizing that they both had more in common than first thought, they warmed up to each other. They had four classes together, and they always ate lunch together. For a while, both of them were happy. Then sophomore year rolled around.

Jade was incredibly excited, because her ball had said a cute thing would happen with a guy and ohmygod I'm so happy and I can't wait. John, however, was dreading another year with only Jade as his friend. While his step-sister was a fun ball of energy, John wanted a guy friend. There were rumors circulating that John was gay. A guy friend would put an end to that. He had no issues with homosexuality; he just didn't like being assumed as gay just because his only friend was a girl. Of course, the second he walked into the school with Jade in tow, the rumors gained new life. The warning bell rang as Jade gave John a quick hug and skipped off to her homebase. John trudged to his classroom, he noticed a blonde boy looking confused. Or so John thought; the boy wore mirrored sunglasses.

For some reason, John's feet propelled him toward the blonde.

"Are you lost?" The boy looked up from the planner in his hands.

"Yeah. Where's Mr. Kirk's classroom? He's my homebase teacher." John smiled, flashing the boy his buck teeth.

"He's my homebase teacher as well. I'll show you." John took the boy's hand and let him through the emptying halls to their homebase. And John met his first friend.


	7. Chapter 7

A few weeks later, however, he ended up in the hospital, wrists cut open, almost dead. Dave and his cousin, Rose, were coming over to tell John something very important. They found the door unlocked, so they walked in. Dave immediately sensed that something was wrong. He called for John, but got no answer. They heard a scream coming from upstairs, then crying. Jade came down the stairs, wailing. She screamed at Dave to call 911 while Rose went to see what happened. She looked through the bathroom door to see John lying in the bath tub, wrists bleeding. She started having a mild attack, but kept her composure long enough to call 911, John's dad, and Kanaya. Then, she held John's hand, pushing her panic down. The ambulance arrived, taking John to the hospital. Mr Egbert came by just as the ambulance pulled out, quickly followed by Kanaya. Dave and Jade went with Mr Egbert while Rose went with Kanaya. At the hospital, the doctors worked furiously to save John. His heart stopped twice. However, after a long and hard battle, they managed to stabilize him. They sewed up and bandaged his wrists, then gave everyone the okay to see him. Mr Egbert cried quietly, standing off to the side. Rose and Kanaya hugged Jade as she sobbed. Dave's voice cracked as he asked to leave the room for a moment.

When he awoke, John found himself surrounded by flowers, cards, candies, and stuffed Ghost Busters things from his friends and people from school. He pressed the red call button and a woman came into his room, followed by girl who looked to be around John's age. The girl was introduced as Feferi. She was studying to be a nurse, but it was only for experience with animals. They explained the situation, then sent his friends in. They all started speaking at once, giving John a headache. Dave silenced them, then explained that they had found a therapist for him. That was what they were going to tell him, but he had assumed that they were moving away and wouldn't keep in contact. The whispers in his head told him he was worthless. He'd made a snap-decision and almost paid with his life. He sighed and tried to smile at them.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I really need to get on the ball. Thank you to everyone who has read this story. You guys are awesome! Love ya!**

**~Princess**

After a month in the hospital, John agreed to see this therapist. Of course, he didn't really participate all that much. The therapist wasn't much help, anyway. '_How many times in an hour can he say the same things,'_ John wondered frequently. 'You'll be fine' was his motto. It reminded John of hopeless treatments to terminal diseases. "You'll be fine in time for that party," but the party passes. "You'll be fine in the next week," but three weeks pass with little progress. "You'll be fine in a month," but a year passes. As time goes by, you get a more general measurement of time. Two days, three, two weeks, a month, about a year. '_Maybe even in this lifetime,'_ John thought after another depressing meeting. If you can't tell, the sessions made John feel a bit hopeless. He talked more to Jade than he did to his 'older brother-type fellow'. His life took a turn for the better when he qualified for a therapy group. While it doesn't seem like it, he met some of his previously mentioned friends there.

The group kicked off with one of those name games that we all know and despise. First was John. He stated his diagnosis, name, age, and one thing about himself.

"My name is John Egbert. I'm sixteen years old. Here for depression. I like science." Everyone half-heartedly mumbled, "Hi, John."

"My name Karkat Vantas. I'm also sixteen. Anger issues. I like... Music?"

"Hi, Karkat."

"My name's Eridan Ampora. I'm sevventeen. Mental instability. I'm single," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at a few girls in the group. No one greeted him.

"My name is Rose Lalonde. I'm seventeen. Panic disorder. I enjoy the art of the written word."

"Hi, Rose." John noticed that her hair was the same color as Dave's and couldn't help but wonder if this petite girl could be related to tall, lanky Dave.

"Sup, motherfuckers. I'm Gamzee Makara. I'm seventeen. In for drug abuse. Shit, man, what do I say now," a gangly, tall (emphasis on tall), polka-dot-clad boy said to Karkat.

"Nothing, just... Just shut up."

"Okay." Next came a boy with a lisp.

"Hi. My name is Sollux. Captor. Bipolar. I like to code."

"Hi, Sollux," chimed the group. After that, the patients were allowed a break for lunch. John checked his text messages. He had two from Dave and one from Jade.

To: John Egderp

From: Dave Stridouche

bro

are you allowed to have you phone

To: John Egderp

From: Dave Stridouche

my cousin is there

the blonde that looks like me

her names rose

try to make friends

To: John

From: Jade

hey john!

did you know that dave's cousin rose is in the same support group as you?

anyway, call me when you can!

John quickly stashed his phone and went to eat. He grabbed a gas-station sandwich and a juice box and went to greet Rose.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I've had the worst case of writer's block! I'm so sorry about making you guys wait, and for what? A sucky filler chapter. At least I can move the story along now. I won't write the party because I need to get to the actual sleepover. If you guys have any suggestions for plot developments or other stories, I'll be glad to take them! Also, if you have a story idea that you want put into words, I could give you pointers. I probably won't get to all of them immediately, but I'll try my best. Love ya, my lovelies!**

**~Princess**

Flash forward to three years later, two years ago today. John was walking to his therapist's office when a strange feeling overcame him. It was, oddly enough, a sense of victory. John stopped in front of the door to the therapist's and pondered this wonderful new feeling. At the time, he'd assumed that it was just another good day. In fact, up until he talked to the therapist about how he felt that day, he'd assumed that the meds were just working particularly well. That assumption, however, was thrown out the window when the therapist announced that John no longer needed to visit him. He felt a simultaneous sinking of his stomach and significant rise in his spirits. For three years, John had planned his life around these visits. _What do I do with my life now, _he thought, dazedly walking out of the therapists office. He thought to call his friends with the news. He called Jade first.

"Hey, John. What's wrong? Why aren't you in your session?" Worry laced her voice. John chuckled.

"The therapist said that I don't need to visit him anymore. I'm done with therapy." Jade squealed.

"Oh my god! No way! That's amazing, John!" In the background, John heard Dave say, "What's going on, Harley? Did he buy you a new squid thing?"

"John's finished his therapy!"

"No shit? Wow. Lemme talk to him. Hey, Egbert. Congrats, dude."

"Thanks, Dave."

"So, do you still have to take those weird-ass pills?"

"Only for two months. He gave me two bottles so that I can just have them, but other than that, I'm free!"

"Cool shit, bro. Hey, come over to mine after Rose's group therapy shit. We've gotta celebrate."

"Got it. See ya, Dave."

"Later."

"Bye, John," Jade shouted. A click, and the line went dead. John smiled. Today was a good day.

Rose was elated to hear the news. Or at least she said.

"Congratualtions, John. You've achieved something that I might not."

"Um, thanks?"

"Are we celebrating?"

"Yeah, we're going over to Dave's house."

"I shall see you there. Goodbye, John."

"Bye, Rose." _Time to get ready for a party._


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I'm alive and I bring a new chapter! Please don't kill me! I've been going through some changes and I've been diagnosed with I-can't-write-for-cheezits-itis. It's pretty bad. So let's hope this doesn't suck as horribly as I think it does.**

John blinked, bringing himself out of his remembering. Everyone was staring at him with the biggest grins. He felt a smile creeping across his face.

"You guys are the best. You know, you are the reason I made it through therapy." Gamzee threw an arm around John's shoulder.

"This motherfucker wanted to inspire us to work through our issues." John laughed.

"No, I wanted to get out of that group and never see you guys again." Everyone laughed, even Karkat. Aradia stepped up.

"Come see the epic pillow fort I made, guys!"

"Hey, I helped," Sollux called indignantly from the entertainment area.

"Come on, guys! Let's go see Aradia's fort." Feferi skipped across the room, pulling Eridan along. Everyone pushed John to the front, then they all walked toward the TV room. Taking up most of the free space and nearly touching the ceiling was what, at first, just looked like a big pile of pillows. However, walking around the structure, John noticed a hole big enough to crawl through. Glancing at Aradia, John raised an eyebrow.

"Can I go in?"

"Of course! The lighter blue pillow's yours." With only a confused glance backwards, John crawled through the hole. Inside was a soft, plushy wonderland. Somehow, the fort seemed bigger on the inside. Aradia had seriously outdone herself. Shaped like a mountain, Aradia had balanced the pillows perfectly so that, not only could one watch the TV (which she had moved), but there were places along the walls that you could watch, supported by cardboard and the magic of Aradia's architecture. John spotted his blue pillow and flopped down, peering through the little window at the TV. Of course, being the most important person there, he was the one who was meant to give judgment.

"John, what do you think," Nepeta called. Crawling to the other side of the fort, he said, "This is a great fort, Aradia," stuffing a pillow in the entrance to throw everyone off. Crawling back to his own pillow, he laughed at everyone looking for him outside. Vriska had just come back from the bathroom when she said loudly, "What are you losers looking for?" When Vriska was standing in front of John's little window, her back to him, he let out a giant yell. Vriska jumped and turned, confused.

"John, when I find you, I am feeding you to my tarantula!"

"If you can find me," he said from the middle of the fort. She let out a groan of frustration.

"Let us in, Egbert. We wanna see the badass fort, too," Dave said, peering around the base of the mountain.

"Eqkitty, I hope you fit! Hee hee."

"How did he hide it so easily?" Jade managed to find and remove the pillow that John used as a plug. Everyone crawled inside and found their respective pillows. Of course, Kanaya and Rose were next to each other. Tavros handed John the remote, who then turned on the TV. Aradia put a disc in the player, then joined Sollux on his pillow. The opening to Ghost Busters played, causing everyone but John to roll their eyes. Twenty minutes into the movie, Karkat started complaining about the lack of romance. Being who he was, Dave jumped in and told the angry midget to stuff it. A few minutes later, Terezi sniffed the air.

"Hey, guys?"

"What, Pyrope?"

"Vriska, don't be so rude. Am I the only one who smells that?"

"What? I don't smell anything." Jade sniffed the air a bit.

"Something is burning." John bolted up.

"The cake!" He dashed out of the fort to everyone's laughter. Just as he pulled the cake out of the oven, Vriska and Feferi came over to John.  
"When is the food getting here? Eridan and I haven't had much to eat all day."

"Yeah, where's the pizza?" The doorbell chimed.

"That would be it. I'll get it. Vriska, you get the cake out of the pan. Fef, make sure she doesn't kill anyone." John opened the door to see a few familiar faces.

"Hey, John! Sorry about being so late. I brought cookies," Jane said, a greeting smile on her face. A blur of blonde and pink bounded up the driveway.

"Yo! Jane the male! What's shakin', bacon," she laughed, winking - *ahem* - _wonk_ing. John laughed and let them in. Dirk came swaggering up the drive, carrying more beer with him.

"Sup, little man. Is my doppelgänger here?"

"Yeah, Dave's in the fort."

"Yo! The life of the party is here," Dirk shouted, walking in. "And he brought alcohol!" John was about to close the door when another car pulled up. Out stepped Jade's pen pal, Jake English, carrying seven pizza-sized boxes.

"Hello, chap! Your delivery has arrived." John smiled.

"Jake! I forgot that you worked at the pizza place. You're off, then?"

"Yessiree. You ordered as I was packing up, so the boss let me take the pizzas. It's been busy as of late. Didn't think he could spare a delivery boy."

"Well, Jade's here, and you're just in time. Go check out Aradia's sick fort!" Jake went inside, setting the pizzas down on the counter. John closed the door, a wide smile on his face. Yes, he was much, much happier now.


End file.
